Spraying apparatus



Dec. 24, 1929. 0, w s R 1,740,759

SPRAYING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 19. 1925 8 IE i u I'll/11 Patented Dec. 24, 1929- PATENT OFFICE OSCAR H. WURSTER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS SPRAYING' APPARATUS Application filed August 19, 1925. Serial No. 51,119.

apparatus itself, that will elficiently mix the liquid material with the gaseous expulsion medium and that will be of improved construction and operation The invention is' exemplified 1n the combination and arrange-:

ment of parts shown in the, accompanying drawing and described in the following speci- 2 fication and it is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

in the drawing Fig. l is a vertical sectional view of a spray nozzle forming a part of the present invention; v

lgig. 52 is asection on line 2-2 of Fig. 1; .an

having the nozzle in place therein.

There are numerous industrial operations or processes inwhich it becomes desirable or necessary to spray or atomize a fluid material' with steam or air. The purpose is to finely divide the material so that it may be cooled, crystallized or dried in the chamber into which it is sprayed or atomized. Another purpose may beto incorporate with the material some air which will be retained after it has cooled, crystallized and dried. Thus a light, flufl'y, aerated, granular powder may be produced. In atomizing a fluid material in the manner contemplated in the present invention the material in question and the air or steam under pressure are brought together in a mix- Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a spray towering chamber, mixed and ejected from a suitable orifice in theform of a spray. By projecting the mixture after it leaves the orifice against a dash plate or deflector plate the stream is further broken up and the particles are further subdivided.

Among the mechanicalproblems that come up in atomizing a material are the bringing together of the material and air so that they will thoroughly mix, i. e. so that the air will be incorporated with the fluid material; proper. control of the air and the amounts of the material to be atomized; adjustment of the size of the orifice to meet varying conditions of pressure or available material or desired capacities; and means for regulating and varying the distance of the dash'plate from the orifice to give varying degree of impact and deflection as maybe desired to obtain a certain fineness of material or a" definite spread of the sprayed material for its proper cooling, drying or crystallization. It is desirable to have the device so designed that the means of securing the dash plate in place be such as not to afford a base for some of the solidified material to adhere to and gradually build up and thus interfere the atomizing. When the dash plate is held in place witha yoke or with brackets some sprayed material clings to this support and in turn gathers more material until a mass of material of considerable size and weight may ultimately build up, seriously inter- :terring with operatipns and possibly resul ing in damage to equipment in case of finally breaking loose and "falling. It is also desirable to design a device so that all wearing parts are easily renewable.

To accomplish the above I have designed a spray-nozzle, or spray-head, as shown. lhe material and the air, both under pressure, are brought together through pipes 10 and 11 which are equipped with control yalves l2 and 13 and enter the mixing chamber lei atan angle so that the direction of flow is not great- 90 ly changed. I have used pressures of about pounds but these pressures may be varied as conditions may warrant. The liquid or paste is pumped to the mixing chamber with a pump 35 which produces rapid pulsations rather than a continuous unvarying stream. The liquid or thick paste is injected through inlet 15 into the mixing chamber 14 just in front of the compressed air inlet 16, so that the air picks up the liquid as it flows out and carries it forward into the mixing chamber, lnthe mixing chamber a plate 17 is provided with suitable openings 18 throughwhich the liquid and air must pass, thus insuring intimate contact and thorough mixing of liquid and air. in the orifice 19, I place an ob- :truction in the form of a sphere 20, cone or other suitable shape plug. This is attached to a stem 21 which passes back through the body and to the top of the device and which is threaded so that by turning the stem the plug may be raised or lowered changing the size of the opening 20. 1 It will be especially noted that this adjustment of the size of the opening may be made while the nozzle is in operation and very simply by merely turning hand wheel 22 of the valve stem 21. A very fine and careful adjustment can thus be made and the actual effect of the adjustment can be observed while and at the ti'methe adj ustment is made. If this adjustment or regulation must be made from the front of the nozzle by changing nozzle tips, or if the entire nozzle must be changed to change the size of the opening, then the entire process must be interrupted, pumps stopped, etc. This involves inconvenience, loss of time and output and the amount of adjustment must be estimated inasmuch as the nozzle is not actually spraying when the adjustment is made. It may be necessary to readjust until the proper degree of re ulation is obtained and thus much time may be consumed.

It willbe noted that the dash or splash plate 23 is adjustable also, so that its distance from the tip of the nozzle may be varied.

The dash plate 23 is secured to the extension of stem 21 which holds the regulation ball or plug 20 and thus being in the center of the atomized material-no material clings to it. The nozzle tip 24: through which the material passes is a separate part screwed to the main body 25 of the device and may be replaced when worn. The regulating ball 20 and dash plate 23 are also separate parts, easily replaceable.

The entire device is so designed that the liquid and air are thoroughly mixed, that the size of the atomized stream may be conveniently regulated while the nozzle is in operation and that the ejected stream of material is projected onto a dash plate so secured as not to offer a lodging place for solidified material. By this means a stream of line parnatures ticles is obtained in proper condition for cooling, drying or crystallizing, whatever the case may be. I pressure when ejected the explosive expansionof the air in intimate admixture with the liquid as it leaves the nozzle further assists in breaking up the stream into fine particles.

Attached to the main body 25 is a threaded union 26 holding in place a bonnet 27. The bonnet is threaded to mesh with the threads on thestem 21 to providethe necessary regulation for the nozzle outlet. The bonnet cap 28 with a follower 29 and packing 30 provides proper seal for the stem in passing to stem is threaded and carries a wing nut 31 which may be screwed against the bonnet cap to lock the stemin afixed position after proper regulation has been obtained The main body of the device may also be provided with brackets or lugs 32 suitable for supporting and holding in place the entire nozzle.

In Fig. 3 l have illustrated the spraying nozzle installed in a spray tower for producing aerated or granular soap by the spraying processes described in my prior application, Ser. No. 661,361, filed September 7, 1923. The nozzle is. supported in the tower 33 by means ofa perforated floor or other open support 34. The air is introduced through the pipe 11 while the liquid soap is supplied through a pipe 10 through which it is forced by a pulsating pump 35. In practice, good results are produced by driving the pump at approximately 500 revolutions per minute the pump having four vanes so that the liquid soap is propelled in pulsations of approximately 2000 per minute but it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not limited to this feature although the nozzle is designed to co-operate with a pulsating pump to discharge the material in successive explosions.

I claim l. A spray nozzle having a mixing chamber therein and having inlet openings disposed atoblique angles to the axis of said chamber to direct material into said chamber in the general direction of the axis thereof, one of said openings being disposed in advance of the other, the entrance of the rear opening to the mixing chamber being located at a point where the stream from said opening will meet the stream from the forward opening before either stream is deflected from the oblique direction of its opening so thatmaterial entering through the rear one of said openings will impinge against the side of the stream of material entering through the advance opening.

' 2. In combination, a spray nozzle having a longitudinally extending elongated mixing chamber provided with an inlet opening disposed at an oblique angle to the axis of said mixing chamber, means for forcing liquid As the air and material are under terial into said mixing chamber 1n the gensaid second-name material under pressure through said opening in said mixing chamber, said mixing chamber having an inlet opening thereto disposed in the rear of said first-named inlet opening and arranged at anoblique angle to the axis of said mixing chamber, the entrance of said openings being sufliciently close together to permit the entering streams thererom to meet while retaining the angular di-' rections of their respective openin and means for directing gaseous material t rough inlet opening into said mixing chamber and against the stream of liquid material entering through'said firstnamed inlet opening.

3. In combination, a spray nozzle having an elongated mixing chamber provided wit an outlet orifice and having a pair of inlet openings arranged at oblique angles to the axis of said mixing chamber for directingmaeral direction of the axis thereof, one of said inlet openings being disposed in advance of the other, but sufliciently close thereto to permit the streams from said openings to meet before either is deflected from its entrance direction, means for introducing liquid material in a pulsating stream through said advance inlet opening, and means for introducing gas under pressure through the other of said inlet openings and against the stream of liquid material entering through said ad- 'vance inlet opening.

4. In combination, a spray nozzle having an elongatedinixing chamber therein provided with a discharge orifice at one end thereof and with a pair of inlet openings at the opposite end thereof, the diameter of said orifice beingrelatively small with respect to the diameterof said chamber, said inlet openings being arranged at oblique an les to the axis of said mixing chamber an disposed one in advance of the other, means for introducing liquid material into said advance inlet opening, means for introducing gaseous material underpressure into the other of said inlet openings, a stem extending through said mixing chamber and orifice, a body mounted on said stem and of smaller diameter than said orifice, said body being movable with oblique angle to the axis of said mixing chamber, the entrance of said openings being sufiiciently close together to permit the entering streams th refrom to meet while retaining the angular ings.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification on this 17th day of August, A. D. 1925.

OSCAR H. W'URSTER.

said stem to regulate the discharge opening I through said orifice, a battle carried on said stem in advance of said discharge opening,

said stem extending through said spray nozzle to the rear thereof and having threaded connection with the body of said nozzle, means-for rotating said stem to adjust the opening of said orifice.

5. A spraynozzle having a longitudinally extending elongated mixing chamber provided with 33 111181, opening disposed at an oblique angle to the axis of said mixing chamher, said mixing chamber having an inlet opening thereto disposed in the rear of said first-named inlet opening and arranged atan rection of their respective open- 

